NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- A juvenile trial is being held at the Lawrence County Government Center for Jordan Brown, who was just 11 when he was accused of fatally shooting his father's eight-months-pregnant fiancee.

So far, Judge John Hodge has heard testimony from a tree trimmer who says he called police after Kenzie Houk's 4-year-old daughter emerged from the family's house and said, "My mommy's dead."

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Houk's Father Asks For Justice

"They live with this every day -- not having their daughter, not having their baby grandson, raising two daughters that had a wonderful mother," said Brenda Mooney, a Houk family friend. "I mean, what else can you say?"

The proceedings are expected to continue until Friday. Stay with WTAE.com for updates from the courthouse.

Brown, now 14, is charged with killing Houk, 26, with a youth-model shotgun in February 2009 at the rural farmhouse they shared with Brown's father and Houk's young daughters.

Investigators have suggested Brown was jealous of Houk's unborn son, but the defense has said there's no evidence of that, and Brown's father says Jordan is innocent.

"He's never said a bad word about Kenzie, ever," said the suspect's great-aunt, Cynthia Wiseman. "And I visit him three times a week, and he still refers to those little girls as his sisters, and that's what is so sad in this whole situation."

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The case was moved from Common Pleas court -- where Brown faced the possibility of a life prison sentence -- to a juvenile court, where proceedings are closed to the public and the court's jurisdiction over him would end at age 21.

State law says juvenile court trials for serious felonies -- including homicide -- must be public if the defendant was at least 12. But judges have discretion to close trials for younger defendants, which Hodge did in this case.

Only the attorneys, Brown, and selected members of both families will be permitted in the courtroom during the trial.

Houk's father, Jack, said he's ready to "see if justice prevails." He is expected to testify at some point.

"Right now, I couldn't say what I'd say," Houk said. "When I find out what I do say, it'll be coming from my heart. That's where it's coming."

Brown has been held at a juvenile detention center in Erie while awaiting his trial date.

"We want him released now, because he's lost his childhood, he has maintained his innocence, and he didn't do this," Wiseman said.

"It's either going to be they're going to be upset or we're going to be upset, and my own personal thing is, I think he needs help. I thought that a long time ago," said Kenzie Houk's aunt, Barbara Bradley.